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“I was?” I asked, pleased.
“I’ve been waiting all my life for someone to put him in his place. You knocked him down a few pegs, which he didn’t see coming. I’ve never seen anyone fluster him before.”
“Well, good. He deserves to be flustered. He is not a good person.”
“He’s the worst,” I said. “I can’t believe I spent so much of my life feeling bad about myself around him. When I saw him tonight I realized that’s just part of his thing. He likes to keep people down and off-kilter, and he’s a genius at knowing just the right buttons to push.”
“I can’t believe she’s marrying him. Because actually, she’s not that bad,” I said. “Compared to him, anyway.”
“The bar is not too high.”
“What was it you saw in her?” I asked. All night, I’d been thinking about that and wondering what it was that had drawn him to her in the first place.
“She’s smart and charming. You can see that, right?”
“Yes, I can. But also vapid and not very interesting.”
I laughed. “I didn’t see her that way at all. The whole time we were together, there was a part of me that wondered when she would leave. Not totally consciously maybe, but I never thought I had what it took to keep her happy for long.”
“You were right.”
“Yeah, I was.”
“I wonder what would have happened if you hadn’t felt that way? If you’d been cocky as hell like Rob. Maybe you caused her to leave because you expected it.”
He appeared to think about this for a few seconds before answering. “I’ve never expected much from my life, and I guess we get what we believe we deserve. I don’t know.”
“Is that why you haven’t asked me out until recently?” Lights from a car going the other way illuminated his profile.
“I didn’t think you would say yes.”
“Well, now you know,” I said. “And we can both agree I’m a catch.”
“Um, yeah?”
“Meaning, if I’m interested in you, then you must not be all that bad after all.” I smiled, flirty and loose from the drinks and my full stomach.
“I guess you’re right.” He looked over at me for a quick moment. Just then, the car sputtered and lurched. He cursed under his breath and slowed, veering onto the side of the road. The motor coughed and then died. We sat for a moment before he looked over at me. “Well, it looks like this old girl’s finally dead. I thought the shop had resurrected her for a few more miles but maybe there’s no saving her.”
“Do you think so? Maybe it’s just the battery? Isn’t it almost always the battery?”
“Maybe.” He rested his forehead on the steering wheel for a moment. “How am I going to get to work? I can’t borrow Breck’s truck again. It’s too humiliating.”
“You can borrow my car,” I said. “If you need it.”
He turned to face me. “That’s really sweet, but last time I checked, you needed your car to get to your own job. I was hoping she’d make it until we got paid for the gazebo job. And now I’m going to have to pay for a tow truck.” He rubbed his eyes and scrunched over the steering wheel. “Being broke makes me feel like a total loser.”
“You’re not a loser.” I touched his shoulder. “Don’t say that about my friend.”
He lifted his head to look over at me. “Can you really look at me and think I have any potential to be a good partner? My father’s a criminal. I’m broke. I have no car and student loans galore. I’d never be able to buy you a nice house or one of those big fat rings like Arianna’s.”
“Your father’s a criminal, not you. It’s not a crime to be struggling financially.”
“No debtors’ prisons like there were in the past,” he said, with a hint of humor in his tone. “But you know what I mean. Next to a guy like Rob, I don’t stand a chance.”
“Maybe for Arianna. Not for every woman.” I twisted in my seat to get a better look at him. “Not every woman cares about all that.”
“Most women do.” His face was barely visible in the dark, but I could hear in his husky tone how discouraged he was about life. “Arianna didn’t waste any time after she met Rob to make her choice.”
